EXOUS: Dawn
by runlikeatitan
Summary: Percy Jackson is a not-so-regular teen. He's known amongst all Americans as a prodigy and hates it. With his father missing and mother dead, who or what does he turn to? Goode for Prodigies, of course! There he meets the popular student council and his new mismatched friends. Will these special children uncover the deep, dark secrets Goode has been hiding?
1. Chapter 1

**EXOUS: Dawn**

 _ **Chapter 1: Dawn**_

 **Disclaimer: The characters from PJO and HOO do not belong to me, they belong to Rick Riordan.**

* * *

Myriads of blue littered the sky overhead. Black smoke gathered ominously in the great expanse, which obscured the multitudes of different glows in the heavens above us. The ground was strewed with ember and ash. Trees with limp branches surrounded me. I squinted, acquainting myself with the black shadow of a man that loomed in the distance. The wind hummed quietly, and the light breeze shifted my ink-black hair.

"Percy," his voice murmured into the crisp, refreshing air. "Save them."

I furrowed my brows. As if detecting my confusion, the man turned toward me. The radiance of his sea-green eyes strikes me. It was a mere reflection of my own eyes. While his eyes rippled in the ocean's color, the rest of his body was a mystery. Blackness devoured him.

"I don't understand," I croaked, the dryness of my throat catching up to me.

Water erupted from behind him with sea foam adorning it, lighting up the waves. "Percy," he began. "Save the children who are lost, lost of the truth. Save the special ones."

And then the water hurled towards me.

It threw the trees into the ground, dragging them to their knees along with their limp branches. The amber and the ash delved into the tsunami of blue, heightening its aggravated demeanor. Like a moth drawn to a flame, the figure walked into the calamity of blue and the waves of blue consumed him. The radiance of his eyes shined through but dimmed when the waves were on the brink of washing over me.

Just before the darkness of the ocean engulfed me, the world beneath me tore into two, sending me through the expanse of black. The faint sound of ringing broke out in the empty silence, marking a farewell.

* * *

I woke up with sweat beading down my forehead and my bare chest. My breaths were shallow and rapid, and my heart hammered out of my chest like it's a rabbit chasing for its skin. The cold, refreshing air weaved in through the gap of the open window, sending the chill of the morning running along my chest. I took a sip of water from the bottle that I perched on my nightstand last night.

Last night was different.

I had a nightmare, just like any other night. But it never consisted of something like this. Usually, it was smeared with crimson, death and my parents, except this one was just smeared with destruction and absurdness. The mere brutality of the landscape around me was frightening enough. It was like a premonition of the world to come. However, it was just a nightmare. A figment of my imagination. It couldn't be real.

I hopped off my bed, shaking off any thoughts about last night. It was then when I registered the faint noise of my alarm emitting from my phone that was under my pillow. Before I tossed my phone on the bed, I switched off the alarm off and noticed the time.

Nine o'clock. "Damn," I muttered to myself. How long had I been sleeping through the alarm?

In a hurry to get out of the condo, I quickly had a shower and brushed my teeth. Throwing on a black t-shirt, navy jeans and a pair of sneakers, I rushed out and promptly made my way to the lobby. The second I reached the ground floor, I crashed into a body.

My eyes watched the cup of coffee, which the man was holding, falling towards the ground in slow motion. Acting on a reflex, my hand shot out to reach for the cup. I caught the single drops of dark liquid that had left the cup and then steadily held it.

"Wow." I looked up and saw Alastor, the doorman, grinning down at me. Alastor took back the coffee I was holding out for him. "Nice save, Perce."

I smiled. "Anytime, Alastor." I observed the cup of coffee. "What are you doing with it?"

A confused expression crossed his face. "With what?" His gaze met the cup. "Oh! This thing," he held up the cup. "Mark wanted a coffee, but he couldn't work coffee machine, and no one else is available to help."

"Mark is back?" Mark was an elderly man who owned one of the condos in the complex, but he was taken to the hospital after slipping on the floor.

Alastor slowly ascended the stairs. "Yeah. He's back and already raising hell in here," he said before disappearing into the maze of steps.

I sped out of the door and into the bustling streets of New York. The skyscrapers stood high in the sun, drowning in the last pieces of summer. Weaving in and out of the herd of people that came my way, I finally found the place I was looking for – Alexandros' Newsstand.

"Hey, Alex," I greeted warmly, picking up the latest issue of The New York Times.

Alex turned around, and a broad smile welcomed me. "Percy! I thought you weren't coming today," he replied, taking the money that I was handing him.

"I slept through my alarm today. I had a pretty rough night." I shoved my hands into the pockets of my jeans.

Alex's joyful gaze was quickly replaced with one of worry. "Did you have those nightmares again?"

I rubbed the back of my neck. "Yeah."

"Look, Percy, you– "

"I know, Alex." I gave him a grateful smile. "Thanks."

He pursed his lips. "Alright, son. Just keep it in mind."

Alex reached for his reading glasses, placing them on the bridge of his nose. He placed a sheet of paper on the counter in front of me. "Do you think you could help me with something, Percy?"

"Yeah. Sure. What can I do?" My eyes roved the large numbers splashed across the page.

"What does–"

"One thousand two hundred and ninety-two," I worked out, walking backward away from his stand.

A small smile spread across Alex's lips. "You are a genius, Percy. A genius."

I waved goodbye and twisted around, heading towards my next destination – Central Park. I hoped that Eleanor, the old woman who usually fed the ducks, would still be there. Eleanor, Alex, and Alastor were the first people I had found comfort with after my mom's death. Dad had been gone since I was a baby, so when Mom died a year ago, I felt like a ship without its rudder that was now at the mercy of the sea. And every time I just tried to stay above the surface and keep upright, I sank to the ocean bed.

The current just dragged me to places I never wanted to go. Never expected to go.

Reaching the pond, I saw Eleanor feeding the ducks as expected. Her brown-grey hair blew gently in the wind's breeze, shielding her face from the sun. I crouched down beside her, watching the ducks swarm the rolled oats.

Eleanor acknowledged me, a small smile creeping onto her face. "Hello, Percy."

"Hey, Elle," I replied. "Did you wait for me?"

"Of course." She reached down and ruffled my hair, sprouting a memory in my mind. "Are you prepared for Tuesday? Have you packed?"

Tuesday? Today was Saturday.

Elle laughed. "Monday is Labor Day, so Tuesday is your first day at Goode For Prodigies."

Damn. I'd completely forgotten Tuesday. I was filled with shockwaves of excitement after I received my invitation letter to the school, yet it had completely slipped my mind. GFP was a school limited to people with exceptional abilities all round. To get into the school, you had to be scouted, which made it a pretty hard school to get into. It provided you with everything you needed - living accommodation and food. Well, that's all I needed. It was also located somewhere in the greens of Vermont – a beautiful landscape.

Goode provided education all the way up to college, so being a senior this year, it's where I would be heading next. Luckily, I had packed the moment I received the letter, which I'm pretty grateful for. There was nothing else much to prepare since the school had made all my traveling arrangements.

"Surprisingly, Elle, I did remember to pack," I replied, standing up. "I'm leaving tomorrow, so I guess I won't be seeing you much."

Right… I wouldn't get to see Alex, Elle or Alastor anymore. I suppose I've been so used to having them around, and it hadn't crossed my mind once how it would feel not seeing them every day. They had been the most permanent things in my life after Mum's death; everything else seemed to leave me at some point.

"Hey," Elle murmured, bringing me out of my stupor. "Alastor, Alex and I will always be with you."

I smiled down at her, wrapping an arm around her neck and hooking her to my side. "Thanks, Elle."

We basked in the comfortable silence for the rest of the journey, well, most of the journey. Elle had the tendency to randomly start rambling about things she found interesting – which was most of the time. She even managed to give a long-winded history of the Roosevelt Island Tramway.

Her varnished red door finally came into view after traveling two flights of stairs of her apartment complex. Elle unlocked the door and perched her bag on a small table before leading me towards the kitchen.

She reached up to the cabinet, grabbing two cups. Like usual, I tossed over the carton of orange, which Elle caught with ease. As she poured the drinks, I headed over to her lounge and switched on the TV, shifting the coffee table so that it was sitting directly in front of the couch.

Elle came in and handed my drink before she took a seat on the sofa. I raised the glass to my lips but paused as a strange look crossed Elle's face, a look I'd never seen before. After taking a sip of the drink, I placed it on the table.

"Are you okay, Elle?" I inquired.

She looked down at her lap, a frown tugging at her lips. "I'm sorry, Percy."

I furrowed my brow. "For wha–"

My breath caught in my throat.

And then everything turned black.


	2. Chapter 2

**EXOUS: Dawn**

 _ **Chapter 2: Beginnings**_

 **A/N: I'll try my best to update once every week. However, I can't guarantee this for the entire month of June up until around the second week of July.**

 **Disclaimer: The characters from PJO and HOO do not belong to me, they belong to Rick Riordan.**

* * *

My eyes flashed open, welcomed by the array of white light surrounding me. All my senses seem to be acting on full throttle: I could hear the hum of the voices around me and the buzz of machines; I could feel the drum of my heart and the blood rushing through my veins; there was a stench of bleach lingering in the room.

Seconds passed, and everything became clearer. A limp curtain hung on one side of the bed I was lying in. Stark white walls enclosed me, devoid of any beauty, yet filled with a sense of hope. There was a serene atmosphere, one that harbored peace and tranquillity. The bed I was in was trapped in the corner of a room where light filtered in through a large paneled black window.

I sat up to observe my surroundings and figure out what was going on. What was this place? How did I get here? My head pounded wildly, groaning, I pulled on my black strands of hair. Shuffling to the side of the bed, I noticed the blue piece of garment that I was wearing. A hospital gown? Why would I be in a hospital? I walked toward the window so I could see where I was, but a voice crept out from nowhere, halting my movement.

"You should be lying down."

I darted my head back to the source of the voice. There stood a girl with golden curly hair and vibrant gray eyes. She looked like stereotypical California girl except for her startling eyes.

I scratched the back of my neck. "Uh– "

Her eyes narrowed. "You drool when you sleep."

Quickly, I wiped the corner of my mouth. "Where am I?"

"Goode for Prodigies." Noticing my confused expression, she explained further. "You was found in an apartment suffering from something like hyperthermia; the paramedics couldn't exactly find out what you were suffering from." Her eyes were solely trained on my own. "Luckily, they managed to slow down the rate at which your health was deteriorating. We got you transferred to our medical department since it's one of the best in the country, and you were going to come here anyway." She looked at me suspiciously. "But you suddenly recovered in health; all traces of your symptoms disappeared."

An apartment... I closed my eyes, trying to remember what had happened.

Like a moth drawn to a flame, I drew closer to the grey-eyed blonde. "Whose apartment was it?"

"Eleanor White."

Eleanor. It couldn't have been her. A searing pain dragged through my mind. Images of me entering Eleanor's apartment flashed by. I remember her serving me a drink, but that was it.

Her voice dragged me out of my thoughts. "Do you know who she is? The cops couldn't find a trace of her after you were found."

I clenched my fists. "No."

She eyed me suspiciously. "There'll be a doctor coming to make sure you're healthy enough to be discharged. I'm sure you've read through the introduction booklet so that you won't need a tour or anything. If you get discharged, just head over to reception, and you'll get your student information."

Realizing I hadn't asked for her name, I caught her hand and stopped her from walking further. "What's your name?"

I watched her silver eyes. "Annabeth. Annabeth Chase."

And with that she left the room, leaving a whisper of air chasing after her. Annabeth Chase. I took a seat on the bed, watching the window and the acres of green land surrounding the school. A river lay gracefully behind the trees. The sun reflected on it sending the water into a glorious paradise of gold as it shimmered into the sunset.

Annabeth was beautiful. But it wasn't her beauty that caught my eye – it was the way she held herself with power and self-assurance. She was an enigma.

* * *

After the doctor had discharged me, I headed over to the main reception with the help of a map. They gave me a temporary change of clothes and said that my regular clothes would be in my dorm. The woman at the front handed me my dorm keys and schedule. Everything else that I needed would be in my room.

I walked through a crowd of trees that arched over the cobblestone path I was walking on. The last of the sun's rays streamed through the leaves of the tree, sending tiger stripes of light across the road. I finally reached the building, seeing it peek over the brick archway that leads into an open grass area surrounded by some more trees. The building stood proudly with vines wrapping around its aging bricks. The paned wooden windows were arched and set the dorm an elegant look. The grand entrance was decorated with pillars, and bushes were placed against the walls of the building.

Climbing the stairs attentively, I pushed open the large wooden oak doors. The spiraling stairs were the first things I noticed, along with the small lounge area set at the front of a TV. There were other rooms decorated around the ground floor; I assumed they were the bathrooms and storage rooms. I dragged my feet up the stairs until I reached the last floor, which was the third floor. Though there weren't many floors, each floor had a considerable height, which probably meant the rooms had a large ceiling height.

The room I was staying in was number ten. There were a total of fifteen rooms in each dorm building – five on each floor. I wasn't sure how many people stayed in one room, but I assumed it was going to be a lot since each room seemed to be the size of an apartment for five. My hand gripped the doorknob of the room, slowly twisting it around. I pushed open the door and nearly dropped unconscious from what I was seeing.


End file.
